Welcome to the first (and, it's perfectly conceivable, last) London Blog Roundup. As you can see, this one's subtitled the Beta Version; although it's an idea we at Londonist have talked about for about as long as there has been a Londonist, it's one we've never tried out. There isn't a proper name yet, so we've gone for the Ronseal approach and called it "London Blog Roundup". And that does not mean it consists of quick-drying woodstain. Yet. That might all change.
A few words about the format: we're planning to do this every Thursday, and cover only things written in the previous week. The other criteria for entry are absurdly loose: the blog either has to be London-based, or the particular post must be specifically about London (but the blog could be anywhere).
The heat seems to have stirred London's blogozone in a manner of different ways. They've hissed and roared about Galloway in a number of ways. Or they've mused on Proust (a writer, let's face it, who would have been unsuited to blogging). Disgruntled Commuter is, as ever, fuming. Diamond Geezer has an indispensable guide to the swelter (in his Tuesday post). And Little Red Boat has a health warning:
No matter how refreshing and cool carbonated water may be, no matter how good an idea it may seem at the time, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES attempt to pour it on the affected inner nasal cavity.
Meanwhile Misty at Momentary Lapses of Insanity is wanted to enjoy the sunshine and not sit indoors blogging. So she posted an ode to the joys of computing, to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound Of Silence. And we're glad she did:
Hello 'puter my old friend, I've come to play with you again,
There is a lot of work that I must do, I want to chat with friends on ICQ.
But the screen won't flicker and it won't go beep, oh I could weep,
There's just the sound of silence.
Other topics have been picked over as well, such as Live 8; and it seems Lady Muck over in Waltham Forest might be considering Making Geldof History:
I'd started to think I was being a bit unfair to Sirbob. No but yeah, let's give the minted crusty his due. He's moved on from his silly-sod aid-showering approach to Feeding The World. And he called an Ethiopian dictator a cunt to his face. (The translator gave up and went home.)
But he still refers to Africa as some pathetic Special Needs continent ...
And over at Wimbledon this week, Stress Queen has sprung to the defence of Tiger Tim.
What we wrote about the train congestion charge has been picked up as well, from both Simon Cox's Trainblog (lamenting the move) and by The (e)State of Tim (suggesting that our piece might have been kneejerk - nurse, the muscle relaxants). Both pieces offer interesting commentary.
And finally ... The Plummet Onions posts about being mistaken for an American. That never happens to us.
That's all for this premiere edition of blog roundup. Yes, it's partial and flawed; any idea what you would like to see here?
